Northern Parula Similar Species Comparison

Main SpeciesNorthern Parula

Adult male

Small wood-warbler with a short tail and a thin bill. Adults have a blue-gray back with a yellow-olive patch in the center. Adult males have a bright yellow throat and breast with a black and chestnut band. Note white eye crescents.

Immature male

Immature males are paler overall and lack the chestnut breast band. Immatures also have have yellow-green edged primaries and secondaries .

Adult male

Northern Parulas hop through branches often in the canopy of eastern forests.

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Immature female

Immature females have more of a green wash on their back and head and have green edged primaries and secondaries. Immatures lack the chestnut breast band seen on adult males.

Adult

Small, short-tailed warbler. Note yellow throat, chestnut breast band, and white belly and undertail coverts. Also note yellow lower bill, a distinct feature in parulas.

Adult male

Northern Parulas sing a buzzy insectlike trill that pinches off at the end.

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Immature female

Immature females have more of a green wash on their back and head and have green-edged primaries and secondaries. They also lack the chestnut breast band.

Adult male

Adult males have a distinctive breast pattern—yellow with a black and chestnut band.

Adult female

Northern Parulas nest in hanging clumps of epiphytes like Spanish moss, beard moss, or lace lichen.

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Adult female

Breeds in mixed woodlands and mature forests along streams and swamps. Nests in beard or Spanish mosses.

Adult male

Northern Parulas occasionally take nectar from flowers on the wintering grounds.

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Similar SpeciesNashville Warbler

Adult male

Nashville Warblers have a yellow belly while Northern Parulas have a white belly. They also have a yellow-olive back and wings without wingbars unlike Northern Parulas, which have wingbars.

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